U.D. man gets prison for assaulting preteen

By ALEX ROSE

Thursday, May 9, 2013

MEDIA COURTHOUSE -- A 21-year-old Upper Darby man was sentenced Wednesday to 14-28 years in a state correctional facility on multiple charges stemming from a two-year period of sexual assault against a young girl at his grandparent's home.

Nathaniel Devon Spady, of the first block of South Brighton Avenue, was convicted in December 2012 on two counts each of rape, statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and indecent assault, as well as four counts of sexual abuse of a child for photographing the girl, five counts of sexual abuse for possessing child pornography and one count each of corruption of a minor and criminal use of a communication facility.

Spady had originally been investigated for sharing child pornography over the Internet before his grandfather identified a girl in some of the images detectives pulled off a computer confiscated from the house.

The girl told Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division Detective Robin Clark that Spady had sexually violated her on multiple occasions.

She also drew a picture of a man lying on a couch with an erection and identified him as Spady, then described him either raping her or forcing her to perform oral sex on him. The girl, now 13, said the assaults began when she was 8 years old and continued for two years before Spady's arrest.

During Wednesday's hearing, several of Spady's family members described him as a man of great faith, who had always helped out in his church and the community.

"He never has anything bad to say about anybody, even with the predicament that he's in," said Spady's grandfather, Nathaniel Kelly.

"He doesn't deserve this, he didn't do this," said a tearful Shirley Winsor, Spady's mother. "We will be lost without him. We will be hurt without him. Just because you're convicted doesn't mean you're guilty."

Spady told Judge Gregory Mallon the girl was clearly victimized, but denied any responsibility for the crimes.

"I would never, ever hurt a child," he said. "I hope that the person who victimized her would get justice and I also wish for the manifestation of her healing."

"He has maintained an incredibly positive attitude," added defense attorney Jerome Brown, who did not try the case. "He's a very unique and wonderful person, which is why you're seeing all these tears that flowed today .... There is a tremendous amount of good in this young man."

But Deputy District Attorney Michael Galantino painted a different picture, one of a man whose good works are a public facade and whose sexual deviance takes control behind closed doors.

Galantino read a letter from the victim, in which she described the family being torn apart by the abuse.

"Because of him, I've lost my innocence, trust and part of my family," she wrote. "I hate Devon for what he has done to me and my mom. I pray every day so that I don't turn out like him. I want Devon to pay for what he did to me."

The girl's mother also spoke, identifying Spady as a narcissistic sociopath who carried out his acts in a cold, calculating manner and had turned her daughter from a happy, carefree child to a depressed, angry youth.

"Devon had no emotions or sympathy on how my daughter felt or the impact he would impose on the rest of her life as he continued to have his way with her," she said. "What he did was heinous, horrific and malicious. ... There is not enough years behind bars that will ever measure up to the life sentence he set for my daughter. She will never be the same."